NVIDIA to open research centre in Boston for quantum AI

NVIDIA is establishing a research centre in Boston dedicated to advancing quantum computing technologies by integrating them with artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputers.

The NVIDIA Accelerated Quantum Research Center (NVAQC) aims to tackle some of the most pressing challenges in quantum computing, including qubit noise and the transformation of experimental quantum processors into practical devices. The centre will collaborate with quantum computing innovators such as Quantinuum, Quantum Machines, and QuEra Computing, alongside researchers from notable academic institutions including the Harvard Quantum Initiative in Science and Engineering (HQI) and the Engineering Quantum Systems (EQuS) group at MIT.

Jensen Huang, Founder and CEO of NVIDIA, stated, "Quantum computing will augment AI supercomputers to tackle some of the world's most important problems, from drug discovery to materials development. Working with the wider quantum research community to advance CUDA-quantum hybrid computing, the NVIDIA Accelerated Quantum Research Center is where breakthroughs will be made to create large-scale, useful, accelerated quantum supercomputers."

The NVAQC will be an arena for both commercial and academic partners to engage with NVIDIA's new NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 rack-scale systems, which are billed as the most powerful hardware yet deployed for quantum computing applications. These systems will facilitate complex simulations of quantum systems and expedite the development of low-latency quantum hardware control algorithms, crucial for quantum error correction. Moreover, the deployment of these systems is expected to hasten the adoption of AI algorithms within quantum computing research.

The integration challenge of GPU and QPU hardware will be addressed by employing the NVIDIA CUDA-QTM quantum development platform, intended to enable researchers to devise new hybrid quantum algorithms and applications.

As part of its academic collaborations, the HQI at Harvard University will work with the NVAQC to advance research related to next-generation quantum computing technologies. Mikhail Lukin, Joshua and Beth Friedman University Professor at Harvard and co-director of HQI, remarked, "The NVAQC is a very special addition to the unique Boston area quantum ecosystem, including word-leading university groups and startup companies. The accelerated quantum and classical computing technologies NVIDIA is bringing together has the potential to advance the research in areas ranging from quantum error correction to applications of quantum computing systems, accelerating quantum computing research and pulling useful quantum computing closer to reality."

Researchers from MIT's EQuS group, a faction of the MIT Center for Quantum Engineering, will utilise the NVAQC to develop techniques such as quantum error correction. William Oliver, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and of Physics, and Director of the MIT Center for Quantum Engineering stated, "The NVIDIA Accelerated Quantum Research Center will provide EQuS group researchers with unprecedented access to the technologies and expertise needed to solve the challenges of useful quantum computing. We anticipate the future will also include other members of the Center for Quantum Engineering at MIT. Integrating the NVIDIA accelerated computing platform with qubits will help tackle core challenges like quantum error correction, hybrid application development and quantum device characterization."

The NVAQC is set to commence operations later this year.